Ivory Coast kick off the AFCON tournament against Guinea-Bissau in Abidjan
Ivory Coast vs Guinea-Bissau - 13/01/2024
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The Africa Cup of Nations 2023 tournament (being played in 2024) will kick off on Saturday from the Ivory Coast. The tournament will begin with the hosts playing in Abidjan against Guinea-Bissau in Group A.
Group A should be tightly contested. Joining the Ivory Coast and Guinea-Bissau are Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea.
Two years ago, Senegal claimed their first Africa Cup of Nations title, defeating record-winner, Egypt, in the final on penalties.
Ivory Coast are aiming to return to the top of the ladder in African football. A strong performance in Group A can help them get back there.
The Elephants are two-time Africa Cup of Nations winners. They claimed the 1992 and 2015 titles and were runners-up in 2006 and 2012.
For all of the fantastic players the Ivory Coast have enjoyed over the years, they have not claimed the number of AFCON trophies many onlookers would have expected.
Guinea-Bissau have never won the Africa Cup of Nations tournament. Indeed, the national team only debuted in the AFCON event in 2017.
Guinea-Bissau have never won a match at the tournament and scored just two times.
Both of Guinea-Bissau’s goals came in the 2017 edition of the competition. Since then, Guinea-Bissau have not scored in any of the AFCON tournaments they qualified for.
The Ivory Coast warmed up for the match on Saturday, with a friendly 5-1 win over Sierra Leone.
It was the Elephants third consecutive win in all competitions. A 9-0 win over the Seychelles was followed by a 2-0 victory over Gambia.
The Ivory Coast will face off against some far stronger competition than in their last three fixtures. The squad is made up of players competing in Europe and the Middle East.
Nottingham Forest’s Serge Aurier will captain the side. Borussia Dortmund striker Sebastien Haller will be Ivory Coast’s main goal threat. Former Arsenal forward Nicolas Pepe will be another goal threat for the team.
Guinea-Bissau do not have the same quality in the side, as their opponents. Questions will be asked where the goals will come from.
Lyon’s Mama Balde should be their biggest scoring threat. However, he has just three goals in 21 international appearances.
Balde and Almeria Houboulang Mendes are arguably the team’s highest-profile players. If Guinea-Bissau can start the tournament with a point, they could conceivably get through to the next round.
The previous AFCON tournament was low scoring, with just 100 goals scored across 52 matches. Games averaged just 1.92 goals per game.
This year’s tournament should also be low scoring and the opening game is likely to finish nil-nil with neither side getting the win.
Home team
Away team
Pred
Correct score
Avg. goals
Weather conditions
Coef.
Score
Live
coef.
Acn
42508
X
0 - 0
1.21
29°
5.25
1.20
5.25
15.00
no
no
no
2 - 0(1 - 0)
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